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habit majeur
en date à PARIS du 21 décembre 2019
Feb 6, 2020 00:41
4 yrs ago
43 viewers *
French term

Avoir le charisme d'un gant de toilette

Non-PRO Not for points French to English Other Slang Idiom
Hello Prozers! I would like to know a good equivalent to the French idiom Avoir le charisme d'un gant de toilette. Has anyone got any ideas? Thanks for your suggestions!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +6 have all the charisma of / have about as much charisma as a wet dishcloth
3 +3 have the charisma of a wet blanket
3 have the charisma of a damp rag
Change log

Feb 4, 2020 21:48: Andrea Capuselli changed "Vetting" from "Needs Vetting" to "Vet OK"

Feb 6, 2020 00:41: Andrea Capuselli changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"

Feb 6, 2020 09:49: Jennifer White changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): philgoddard, Michele Fauble, Jennifer White

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Discussion

mrrafe Feb 6, 2020:
wet rag In this context the Russians may speak of a wet rag (vlazhnaya tr'yapka), or wet washcloth/dishcloth (vlazhnaya tr'yapka za myt'ya posudy).
philgoddard Feb 6, 2020:
A literal translation works fine, and I don't see any point in looking for substitutes. You could possibly add "limp"" or "damp" for extra colour. It's usually called a washcloth in the US and a (face) flannel in the UK.

Proposed translations

+6
6 hrs
Selected

have all the charisma of / have about as much charisma as a wet dishcloth

I think this would be more idiomatically scathing in EN — though if this is the actual quote from NF, you'll obviously need to go back to the source and use his actual words, rather than seeking to back-translate to them!
Peer comment(s):
agree Philippa Smith : Or "wet mop".
20 mins
Thanks, Philippa!
agree Jennifer White : nice one!
2 hrs
Thanks, Jennifer!
agree writeaway : or a wet rag/US-UK divide?? https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/wet rag
2 hrs
Thanks, W/A! Personally, I'm less keen on 'rag', seems somehow dated — or maybe it's just my schoolboy humour kicking in ;-)
agree B D Finch
9 hrs
Thanks, B!
agree Victoria Britten
10 hrs
Thanks, Victoria!
agree Stephanie Benoist
2 days 1 hr
Merci, Stephanie !
Something went wrong...
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
20 mins

have the charisma of a damp rag

Nigel Farage used this expression about Herman Van Rompuy in 2010, so using it would most probably invoke political connotations that might be suitable in some contexts but not in others.
Reference:

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nigel_Farage

Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : wet rag is more idiomatic. and I personally don't trust a single word uttered by Farage. /in any case, I don't agree with damp.
7 mins
What we think of Farage is unrelated to this. I only posted it as a real-life example./Indeed, a search for this expression only gives NF results. But this is what the man said, idiomatic or not.
Something went wrong...
+3
7 hrs
French term (edited): Avoir le charisme d\'un gant de toilette

have the charisma of a wet blanket

"Wet blanket" is commonly used to describe someone quite dull and uncharismatic, who also puts a downer on things and finds downsides in all situations.

Also "wet lettuce" but I think that's quite a north of England thing, I'm not sure people elsewhere will get it!
Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : nounINFORMAL a person who spoils other people's fun by failing to join in with or by disapproving of their activities. "don't be a wet blanket"
9 mins
neutral Tony M : Agree with W/A: this introduces a different idiom, which rather clouds the issue here.
25 mins
agree SafeTex
1 hr
neutral Jennifer White : Agree with Tony and W/A. Not suitable here.
2 hrs
agree Yolanda Broad
14 hrs
agree GILLES MEUNIER
22 hrs
neutral Stephanie Benoist : It's the first term I thought of, it's such a parallel image, but I also agree with Tony and WA..
1 day 23 hrs
Something went wrong...
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